The U.S. Navy has signed Raytheon, an RTX business, to a five-year contract with two optional years for Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) interceptors. The contract, which is worth as much as $24.4 billion, is for a versatile munition capable of providing both offensive strikes and defensive operations. The SM-6 interceptors (see figure) are combat-proven weapons that can be fired from numerous ship-based systems as a means of countering a wide range of kinetic threats faced by maritime forces. The long-term contract is meant to provide a consistent, reliable supply of SM-6 missiles for the U.S. Navy. 

The contract builds upon a series of recent agreements between the U.S. Department of War (DoW) and Raytheon designed to maintain a steady supply of defensive weapons systems for the armed forces. Additional agreements include Tomahawk weapons systems. As Raytheon president Phil Jasper notes: “SM-6's multi-mission capability is vital to our customer, and Raytheon is intensely focused on meeting the demand.” Jasper refers to his company’s strong investments in equipment and personnel to keep pace with rising demand for weapons solutions such as the SM-6 systems: “By continuously investing in our operations and facilities, we are removing constraints and boosting capacity to ensure we deliver this critical capability our sailors depend on.” 

The versatile SM-6 systems are well suited for numerous battle grounds, capable of performing anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, and ballistic missile defensive operations. As Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment, Michael P. Duffy, explains: “Our mission is to ensure our warfighters never enter a fair fight. This multi-year award locks in the magazine depth and lethal dominance our forces need to prevail, while demanding our industrial base produce at warp-speed.”